WHITEHALL – The Fruitport boys basketball team had a tremendous 2024-25 season, full of impressive accomplishments.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, one accomplishment they won’t achieve is a Division 2 district championship.

Fruitport fell 60-47 to Oakridge in the district semifinals on Wednesday night at Whitehall High School, putting a sudden end to a very exciting campaign.

For a team that scored well all season, it was a rough offensive fourth quarter that did the Trojans in.

With the game tied 42-42 after three quarters, Fruitport was held to just five points in the final eight minutes.

“We had great looks,” said Fruitport head coach Steve Erny about the tough quarter. “I just don’t think we made our shots. We had some wide-open shots that didn’t go down from three. The thing that hurt us the most is that we didn’t seem to have the energy to push the ball consistently.”

Both teams started the game strong offensively, with Oakridge taking a 19-15 lead after one quarter. Hudson Hazekamp led Fruitport with seven first quarter points.

Freshman Dexter Lillmars hit three triples in the second quarter to help Fruitport take a 32-30 lead into halftime.

Oakridge outscored Fruitport 12-10 to tie the game at 42-42 after three quarters of play. Day Day Williams had seven third-quarter points for Fruitport.

Williams also led the Trojans in scoring in the fourth, but it was only three of the five points that they managed to put up. Oakridge took control by scoring 18 points down the stretch.

Lillmars finished with a team-high 15 points for Fruitport while Williams totaled 12 and Hazekamp scored nine.

Oakridge, now 17-7, advances to Friday’s district title game.

The Trojans finished the season with a 17-6 overall mark, and set a new program record for the number of wins in a season. They also won the O-K Silver conference championship with a 10-3 mark. It was the first boys basketball conference title in school history.

“I think when we get a chance to reflect, we’ll be very proud,” Coach Erny said about the breakthrough season. “This group, to win a conference championship and get the most wins we’ve ever had, sets the tone for future years. There is an excitement for the future, but we’re really sad it’s over, and really thankful.”

The Trojans will lose four seniors to graduation, including starting guard Grade Anspach. But eight other players, including four starters from this year’s squad – Williams, Hazekamp, Lillmars and Trevor Rusnak – are expected to return.

“We had such a great group,” Erny said about the departing seniors. “It’s okay to feel the pain of tonight for a while, but we’ll have to continue to build off of what they’ve done for the future. We talked to the seniors in the locker room about how much we love them.”